Campaigning Liberal Democrat Jo Swinson who is fighting for a better deal for women, will be in Cambridge Thursday 21 January.

She will be speaking to university students about her Real Women policy which is backed by the party’s Cambridge parliamentary candidate, Julian Huppert.

He said: “We have made great headway in equality in this country; but women still face struggles daily trying to juggle their home lives and jobs.

“Women still get paid less than men in many areas of work and they often have responsibility for child care as well as looking after elderly relatives.

“There is so much more the government could do to make their lives easier. This policy sets out some fundamental changes which could make a real difference.”

Ms Swinson will be talking to students from Churchill and Trinity Colleges at an event organised by Castle ward county councillor, Belinda Brooks-Gordon and attended by Cambridge MP, David Howarth.

Her Real Women policy calls for:

· companies to publish data on the pay scales within their organisations and conduct pay audits;
· a ‘name blanking’ policy so that job applicants apply with National Insurance numbers;
· modules on body image, health and well-being, and media literacy to be taught in schools;
· action to tackle body image pressure by requiring advertisers to label all adverts, disclosing the extent of digital retouching of images of people;

Ms Swinson said: “There’s a lot the Government could do to give a helping hand.

“Making employers check for pay discrimination would help women get the money they deserve. And it would be nice to inject some realism into the media’s portrayal of women, instead of the suggestion that nothing less than perfection will do.”

Councillor Brooks-Gordon said: “I am delighted that Jo can take time out of her busy schedule to come and talk to the students of Cambridge.

“This is a vitally important policy which gives women the recognition they deserve. For too long, women have struggled to cope with the demands of their everyday lives in a society which fails time and time again to recognise their valuable contributions.”

A bid solve the shortage of bike racks at Cambridge railway station has been stopped in its tracks.

Cambridge County Council has offered to pay for extra cycle racks if rail operator, National Express East Anglia will offer some land at the station for the new parking area.

But the company is reluctant to do so because it would mean losing income from valuable car parking spaces.

Cyclists often find it difficult to securely park their bikes at the station because dumped and disused bikes fill up the racks.

Cambridgeshire County Councillor, Nichola Harrison said: “This is a situation which could be easily solved if National Express East Anglia were to work with us. But, instead, we are encouraging people to cycle and the company is pulling in the opposite direction.

Lib Dem Cambridgeshire County Councillor Belinda Brooks-Gordon agreed: “There is a serious shortage of cycle parking at the station and this is made worse by the poor management of the parking that is there. NEEA could help to solve this problem. But it appears the company is only interested in helping commuters when it can guarantee a financial return. Bicycle racks, decent covered racks that are well-lit at night are what a station to a city like Cambridge should have”

Cambridgeshire Liberal Democrats have put together a six point plan to fix the county’s broken gritting system.

They propose:

A contingency plan, similar to that which exists for flooding, should be established for freezing conditions and heavy snow.

Precautionary gritting should take place on busy footways and cycleways in advance of freezing weather, not “if icy conditions persist for a few days” which is the procedure at the moment. The safety of pedestrians, cyclists and the disabled should be a priority, not an afterthought.

Salt bins and bags should be purchased by the county council and distributed with immediate effect to local communities.

Further shortages of grit should be prevented. The current method of calculating the grit supply based on a five year rolling average is hopelessly unresponsive. An emergency surplus supply should exist, and storage capacity should be increased.

The county council should urgently consult with the public and councillors on what routes need to be added to the gritting network. At present it plans to conduct its Winter Review internally, without consulting the public or its elected representatives.

Although the county council alone receives money to grit our roads - nearly £2m per year - and has the trained staff, equipment and grit to provide the service, in emergency situations it will obviously be necessary for local authorities to pull together in the public interest in the event of emergencies.
Lib Dem highways spokesperson Kilian Bourke said: “People are right to be angry about the inadequacies of the gritting network. This happened last year, so things should have been better this time round. Instead the county council’s Winter Review will not be ready until next winter.
“Precautionary gritting needs to be taking place on busy pavements and cycleways—the safety of pedestrians, cyclists and the disabled should be a priority, not an afterthought; and measures need to be in place to break up hard, compacted ice.”
Cambridge City Council Deputy Leader, Catherine Smart said: The important thing is that the county council should plan properly and involve other councils in its planning. In an emergency we will all help, but there needs to be a plan in place to make the best use of all our resources.

“We should be pulling together for the good of all our residents, particularly the most vulnerable. A proper Snow Plan should sit on the shelf alongside the Flood Plan till needed.”

Lib Dem County Councillor Fiona Whelan said: “Parts of my community were completely snowed in, and because their pavements and residential streets were frozen over, they had no access to wider community. In an area with an older population this is especially dangerous.”